The invention relates to cameras and photography and more particularly relates to a camera frame assembly having a dogged lens mount and recycling method.
One-time use cameras are commonly designed for ease of disassembly during recycling. Parts of the one-time-use cameras are commonly held together by hooks, since this makes disassembly easier.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,229 discloses a one-time-use cameras, in which hooks are provided as molded-in portions of a one-piece plastic casting. The hooks engage edges of another part. Holes adjoin roots of the hooks. Probes inserted through the holes contact sloped surfaces provided on the hooks and flex the hooks out of engagement with the edges of the other part.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,409 discloses a one-time-use camera disassembly method, in which of the cameras have a label covering the holes adjoining the roots of hooks. Probes are pushed through the label into holes and against sloped surfaces of adjoining hooks to flex the hooks and release engagement of two parts.
Hooks like these have been used for many different parts of one-use-time cameras, including taking-lens related components, as is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,568,218 and 5,721,995.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,097 discloses a camera that has a lens shade, which is hooked to the camera shell after assembly of the shell within an outer paper pack The lens shade protrudes from the remainder of the camera and is subject to impacts, but is separated from the taling lens.
In telescoping lens cameras, the taking lens barrel protrudes from the shell or the shell itself protrudes around the taking lens barrel. In the first case, the barrel is directly subject to impacts. In the second case, the barrel is subject to impact forces if the shell flexes. In either case, the resulting force tends to cause flexure of a coupling between the taking lens and the remainder of the camera.
It would thus be desirable to provide camera frame assemblies and recycling methods, in which a protruding component, subject to impacts, can be securely held by easily releaseable hooks.
The invention is defined by the claims. The invention, in broader aspects, provides a camera frame assembly that has a frame. A lens mount has one or more hooks that grip the frame. A backer dogs the hooks against the frame. In camera recycling, the hooks are first undogged to provide access. The hooks are then released from the camera flame. Following the releasing, the lens mount is separated from the camera frame. The backer can include a baffle that defines an exposure opening aligned with the optical axis of the lens module.
It is an advantageous effect of the invention that improved camera frame assemblies and recycling methods are provided, in which a protruding component is hooked and dogged.